It has long been a goal in the electronics industry to replace soldering and welding as a means of providing an electrical connection between two opposing rows or conductive elements. Connection is needed to connect the traces of one flexible circuit to the traces of another flexible circuit; connect a ribbonized flat cable to a printed circuit board; connect a packaged integrated circuit to a printed circuit board; or the like. Moreover, there is a trend to make more efficient use of board space by closely spacing leads or traces, and by generally diminishing component size and circuitry. Usual connectors, e.g. spring, finger or pin contact are not amenable to the diminished sized components that are common today. Two alternative means for providing electrical connection have been proposed to overcome these problems. They are elastomeric connectors and Z-axis adhesives.
Elastomeric connectors employ conductive bands of metal particle filled elastomeric material disposed between bands of nonconductive elastomeric material. These bands form a bar or strip that has alternating conductive and non-conductive regions. The strip is used to make an electrical connection between two parts by placing it between the row of conductive elements on one part and the opposing row of conductive elements on the other part and applying a normal force, usually by means of a clamp. The bands of conductive elastomer make an electrical connection between the conductive elements on one part and the opposing conductive elements on the other part. The width of each conductive elastomer band is less than the spacing between the individual conductive elements on each part, so the conductive bands make an electrical connection between the opposing elements but not between the individual conductive elements on each part. For example, a row of copper lines on one printed circuit board can be electrically connected to a row of copper lines on another printed circuit board without causing an electrical short within the row of copper lines on the printed circuit boards themselves.
If the electrical connection between two opposing parts needs to be more permanent, or a constant normal force cannot be exerted, then a Z-axis adhesive is utilized. Z-axis adhesives are non-conductive resins filled with conductive particles. They come as either liquids, pastes, or cast films. The Z-axis adhesive is used to mechanically bond and electrically connect the conductive elements on one part and the opposing conductive elements on the other part. The conductive particles are suspended and isolated in the non-conductive resin. The diameter of each conductive particle is substantially less than the spacing of the conductive elements, therefore, there is no shorting between the individual elements. Conversely, the conductive particles have a sufficiently large diameter that they can electrically bridge between the opposing rows of conductive elements to be connected.
Both methods of connection have their limitations. The density of the connection that can be attained by the elastomeric connectors is limited by the spacing of the conductive and non-conductive elements in the elastomeric strip as well as the normal force that must be exerted. The Z-axis adhesive has several limitations based on its ability to keep the conductive particles suspended and isolated in the adhesive. If the particles are not evenly dispersed, they can cause shorting between the conductive elements. If they are not large enough or are not in sufficient concentration, there will not be sufficient conductivity between the conductive elements to be connected. Also, if the adhesive flows or is smeared during processing, the conductive adhesive may cause shorting of other components. Another problem with the Z-axis adhesive is achieving the right balance of adhesion, conductivity, reparability, and compliance.
In some embodiments, a single conductive particle is used to provide the electrical path between two opposing conductive elements. In this type of connector, uniformity of particle size is critical to ensure adequate contact, since the degree to which two opposing conductive elements can be pressed together will depend on the diameter of the larger size particle in the elastomeric connector. It would be beneficial to have a connector that did not depend on the criticality of particle size for operation.